- Tecumseh, the Shawnee leader who tried to unite all tribes into a single alliance- Geronimo, who fought to keep his people's homeland in New Mexico- Crowfoot, the Blackfoot who made not war but treaty with the Canadian government- Crazy Horse, the Sioux war chief who commanded his warriors against General George Custer and the Seventh Cavalry- Wovoka, the Paiute prophet who gave the Ghost Dance to his people- Plenty Coup, a Crow chief who fought with the Americans and tried to bring the two cultures together.

If any one thing opened up the West, it was gold. Beset by an incurable gold fever, men by the droves (and some women) abandoned the security of hearth and home to join the hundreds of thousands of determined gold seekers. Few anticipated the sheer challenge of getting there, the lawlessness or the shattered expectations that came to define the emerging frontier. Tony Hollihan spins the tales of the five legendary gold rushes: California, The Fraser River, the Cariboo, the Black Hills, and the Klondike.

John George "Kootenai" Brown could boast countless adventures: serving in the British Army in India, hunting buffalo on the plains of Manitoba, riding Pony Express for the U.S. Army, and fighting as a staunch conservationist in the region that eventually became Waterton Lakes National Park. Follow along in this exciting account of Kootenai Brown's incredible exploits.

- Sequoya, a Cherokee who invented a system of writing for his people- Sitting Bull, the powerful warrior and spiritual leader of the Lakota Sioux who doggedly fought white incursions on Sioux land- Chief Joseph, who led the Nez Perce on a heroic and doomed flight to freedom- Louis Riel, who was hanged as a traitor after fighting to protect the Metis- Red Cloud, who fought with Sitting Bull to prevent settlers from crossing Sioux lands- Quanah Parker, the last great chief of the Comanche.